CEO takes stock to focus on the future

08 FEBRUARY 2018 | DEREK CRIBB

January is when I take stock of where we have been, and think about where we are going. On reflection, I am very proud of the progress we made in 2017, against a backdrop of global uncertainty and unprecedented continuing political change. Being a relatively small profession, our agility enables us to not only weather the storm but also to harness uncertainties as an opportunity for innovation and positive change.

It’s heartening that IFoA actuaries are being listened to by policymakers and are making their mark

Last year was the first full year with our refreshed strategy, which seeks to ensure the sustainability of the profession.

In May, senior volunteers were in Hong Kong to attend the first Council meeting outside the UK, held alongside our annual Asia conference. This allowed Council the opportunity to connect with our growing membership in the region. The conference itself had record support from high-profile organisations within the insurance world.

Our successful Spring and Autumn Lectures doubled their live audience through webcasts, making them more accessible than ever. In April, professor Dame Sally Davies spoke about antimicrobial resistance, while in September, Michael Sanders discussed data science, as a culmination to our Global Data Science Summit. This summit brought together 12 actuarial associations, as well as leading academics and industry experts, to identify areas of potential collaboration. Discussions highlighted how the actuarial skillset can offer key contributions that set us apart from other voices in this space. Its importance in our future is a certainty, but our opportunity within that future must be defined, and at pace.

We gave oral evidence to both the Treasury Select Committee and, more recently, on personal injury to the Justice Select Committee. It’s heartening that IFoA actuaries are being listened to by policymakers and making their mark, in the public interest.

The International Actuarial Association (IAA) meetings held in Chicago saw approval of the IAA’s new education syllabus. To ensure that the IFoA’s education offering continues to be globally relevant, we reviewed our qualification framework to propose the ‘Chartered Actuary’ qualification, an evolution of our current Associate qualification. We are currently consulting on this and would like to hear your views by 28 February. Information about the proposal can be found on the IFoA website (see link below). In December, we successfully completed an international pilot of our flagship Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong. This is the first time that this accreditation has been applied to organisations outside the UK, and I look forward to opening QAS to organisations around the world this year.

Our new global markets development team has been looking at how we can focus our resources to bring the greatest value to you, our members. This work will accelerate in 2018. This year, our international activity will also encompass our first-ever roadshow in Africa, hosted by our president, Marjorie Ngwenya. Watch this space for further details.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for 2018, and to say a huge thank you to the volunteer community and executive staff whose successful partnership has made our achievements to date possible. I look forward to working with you all as we continue to advance the profession.